Xiang Yinnu's frozen smile disappeared when the feeling coming from the dragon woman before her was fearsome. Her doll-like face was emotionless, and she was closely analyzing her opponent.
She herself had a high-level snake bloodline. Still, because Yasenia's power shows, Yinnu knew that Yasenia's bloodline would be above hers.
Naturally, wanting to get Yasenia as a puppet, she had prepared beforehand and created something that could block most pressure. Besides being a puppet master, Xiang Yinnu was a Tattoo Master. And the thing she prepared was the "furry scarf" around her neck.
Of course, it wasn't a regular scarf. It was a ferret-like dead beast that had been altered by her puppet mastery and Xiang Yinnu's other specialty to absorb pressure directed at her.
Which was that specialty? Well, the reason Yasenia knew her was because the doll-like snake woman wasn't an ordinary genius. She was someone who could create strong puppets and further strengthen them with her Spiritual Tattoo mastery.
As Fascia, the Tattoo Lamia Master in Yasenia's power, said previously, Spiritual Tattoos were different from normal ones. They didn't leave marks on the body but the soul.
So, the cultivator would still appear pristine on the outside.
Of course, the soul could only hold a certain amount of strain, so a Spiritual Tattoo master couldn't just paint thousands of Spiritual Tattoos on one person.
And yet, a puppet didn't have a soul, so how did Xiang Yinnu carve Spiritual Tattoos on them?
Usually, once a person dies, the soul fizzles away after a certain amount of time, only leaving the essence, and that essence would be cleansed by the Heavens and thrown into the reincarnation cycle.
Those moments before death were where the snake-woman aimed at.
Xiang Yinnu's Puppet art was very malicious, as it trapped most of that "fizzling soul" in the corpse to use it as a "canvas" to paint her tattoos. Since it still left the "essence" of the soul to go into the reincarnation cycle, the Heavens didn't directly punish her. It was an inheritance she found in a secret realm long ago.
Still, it wasn't like the heavens didn't react to her ways. Her tribulations were several times stronger than usual, as her art was "against the natural order."
However, with her genius, powerful puppet art, and innate strength, Xiang Yinnu managed to overcome the Epoch Core tribulation and became one of the most feared upcoming geniuses on the continent.
The woman Yasenia was facing was not an ordinary Epoch Core; she was a genius who could surmount levels like her and was under the watch of almost all top powers because of the future influence she would have once she arrived at higher cultivation levels.
When Xiang Yinnu said that she was the strongest, she was not that far off. There were very few who could compete with her in this competition.
But, while Xiang Yinnu was not an ordinary genius, Yasenia was also not an average cultivator.
After looking into each other's eyes for a few seconds, Yasenia's figure disappeared as she shot fearlessly toward the seven beings in front of her.
Xiang Yinnu's eyes hardened as she almost lost her for a second.
She waved her hand and commanded the Middle-level Epoch Core Puppet to go and get her. "[Devil Puppet Commander]."
With her order, the dragon human puppet also disappeared from its spot and met with Yasenia in the middle.
BANG!
Yasenia felt her organs shaking as the enhanced middle-level Epoch Core's bodily strength overpowered her.
Her feet left the ground, and she was blasted backward. An involuntary cackle escaped her throat. "Hahaha! So strong!"
Yasenia landed on the ground after using her tail to correct her stance mid-air, but the Devil Puppet Commander was already swinging her sword at her.
Yasenia smiled and slashed at it again, this time using [Draconic Sunset].
BANG!
Unlike before, the dragoness kept her feet on the ground, but her entire body slid backward.
In the next second, Yasenia and the Devil Puppet Commander began exchanging rapid strikes.
The dragoness swung her sword and tail, using her basic skills like [Draconic Sunrise], [Draconic Crescent Moon], and [Draconic Sunset].
Each had their strengths, which helped in a battle.
As the fastest of those three, Draconic Sunrise was the skill she used the most, creating golden flashes of light while her sword or tail slashed at her opponent.
Meanwhile, the explosive strength behind Draconic Sunset helped Yasenia increase the distance to use a barrage of Draconic Crescent Moon, her most basic ranged attack other than [Shooting Star].
After deflecting the puppet's attack, Yasenia's tail shone silver and slashed at the puppet's chest.
The puppet quickly recovered and crossed its sword before itself, blocking a giant silver crescent with freezing powers.
With quick steps, the puppet appeared beside Yasenia and attacked five times in quick succession.
Yasenia's pupils thinned, and her large broadsword and tail glowed with golden energy.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
The dragoness expertly blocked the attacks and began a counterattack with a heavy vertical hit that pushed the puppet two steps.
The sword mastery was something Xiang Yinnu didn't expect. 'Didn't the reports tell that she was less than 100 years old? That expertise is comparable to a 500-year-old sword cultivator. Moreover, that sword is very heavy, but she is swinging it like a weightless stick.'
Even then, Xiang Yinnu's emotionless, doll-like face returned to the previous bright smile, but the emotionless tone created a very jarring feeling when she spoke. "If that's all you have, you are a bit more disappointing than I thought."
The dragoness laughed without stopping her quick exchange with the puppet. "Why would I not take my time and savor the battle? You are not going all out, and neither am I!"
Xiang Yinnu nodded. "I see. [Puppet Core Boost]."
Yasenia was exchanging strikes when the sword of the Devil Puppet Commander suddenly disappeared. 'Too fast!'
Her danger instincts were activated, and she immediately used [Celestial Cosmos Dress].
Her aura ballooned again, and after an enormous burst of energies that made Xiang Yinnu's black eyes shine for a second, Yasenia swiftly lifted her long sleeve and blocked the attack approaching her from a tricky angle.
CLANG!
Her right long sleeve met with the sword, creating a loud metallic sound. The attack was blocked, but the momentum pushed Yasenia back again, making her feet slide for almost twenty meters.
Xiang Yinnu saw Yasenia unharmed, and her bright smile disappeared again. 'That dress is very sturdy. How should I attack her next?'
Yasenia had always kept her in check and was a bit confused. 'Does she smile brightly when she is confident and become emotionless when she is calculating? Hmm, if that's a habit, I might be able to prevent a powerful hidden attack.'
Although Yasenia was enjoying the battle, her guard was never down. One thing was enjoying fighting; another was stupidly losing concentration and oneself during combat.
The times Tatyana had corrected her bad habit were enough to make her think calmly and collected, even when excitement filled her body.
Yasenia activated [Starry Sky] and finally used [Empyrean Galaxy Domain].
[Empyrean Galaxy Domain] was an innate skill that created a domain-like area where Yasenia could control everything she summoned with her thoughts. Naturally, it also increased her general strength, attribute affinity, and skill strength.
While blocking and exchanging blows with the middle-level Epoch Core puppet at blurry speeds, Yasenia attacked Xiang Yinnu with [Empyrean Galaxy Domain].
Xiang Yinnu looked closely at the battle when she felt Yasenia's energy fluctuating and mixing with the environment.
The dragoness's presence seemed to be everywhere, making her alert. 'Danger.'
Then, her emotionless face changed, and she quickly used her movement technique while jumping backward.
Just as she left, a giant Phantom Sun, covered in golden flames, exploded where she previously stood with enough strength to push her body back with the shockwave. 'Those things in the sky are something she can control?'
Looking at the phantom night sky filled with stars and a large Moon, Xiang Yinnu frowned. 'What about the Sun?'
The Phantom Sun that had exploded was slowly growing where the previous one was. 'I see. She can charge them and then launch them. It's a very powerful ability.'
Meanwhile, the dragoness was internally surprised. She had reduced the activation speed to be stealthy, yet Xiang Yinnu had noticed her. 'It seems that I can't fool a several-hundred-year-old easily.'
While that thought flashed in her mind, she devised attack patterns to combat the strong puppet raining attacks on her without appearing tired.
Her lips were slightly arched. 'Although you could dodge, one of your puppets was hit. Now, tell me if you can regenerate them or not.'
As Yasenia had said, the Sun exploding had caught one of the puppets. Xiang Yinnu herself was not the dragoness's target; since the beginning, she wanted to test the puppets.
She knew that Xiang Yinnu's main strength was the puppets, so fighting her would make it easier if she destroyed them.
Xiang Yinnu looked sideways and saw one of the puppets with heavy scorch marks, and her emotionless face twisted. "Y-You, how dare you damage my beautiful puppets!? [Creature intent Level Four]."
BOOM!
Yasenia was surprised at the massive burst of energy, but she didn't lose her cool. 'Wait, level four?'
A chill ran up Yasenia's spine when the breath of the puppet fighting her changed, and the body slowly and very minutely shifted its stance. "[War Intent Level Two]!"
Right when War Intent engulfed her and strengthened her, her mind was enhanced and would usually be filled with hundreds of ways of fighting.
Yet, at that moment, only one thought appeared. 'Dodge.'
She twisted her neck, and a sword sliced through her cheek and ear, splashing blood.
Crossing eyes with the puppet wielding the sword before her, the eyes were not as dead as before. Her senses tingled with danger, so her mind disregarded everything except one thought.
'Finish it off before it goes out of control.'
Ignoring her slashed face, her Dantian's energy filled her entire body with massive amounts of energy. Then, Yasenia didn't retreat but moved forward along the blade of the sword, deepening the wound until the bone was visible and spilling even more blood.
Her red irises swirled like blood as starlight gathered in them. "Die."
A few moments earlier, when Xiang Yinnu got angry and unleashed her Intent, she saw her puppet thrusting her sword and slicing the side of Yasenia's face, filling her with delight.
'That's what you get!'
But that delight was short-lived.
'Huh?'
Unlike the pain she expected to see in her expression or Yasenia retreating, Xiang Yinnu saw Yasenia step forward and advance deep into the range of her puppet.
The dragoness had ignored her slacking jaw, resulting from the slashed muscles by the sword thrust, and advanced regardless of everything else.
A sense of fear invaded Xiang Yinnu's body, but before she could react, the puppet master felt the time stop at that second.
It was not because of anything, but the person she was looking at was moving too quickly, so she could only perceive her movements, making it appear that everything other than Yasenia had stopped moving.
An Empyrean presence descended, and beautiful blue dragon scales instantly covered Yasenia's arm. In the next instant, a galactic-blue aura surrounded the dragoness's arm, and for the first time in centuries, Xiang Yinnu felt small.
She felt like a speck of dust before the vastness of the Universe.
"[Celestial Dragon Claw]."
Above the Devil Commander Puppet and Yasenia, a titanic, empyrean, phantom dragon claw manifested, blotting the sky.
Yasenia's claw-like hand brutally slashed into the chest of the Devil Commander Puppet, creating an enormous shockwave and making it fly backward hundreds of meters.
Finally, with the remaining descending clawing motion, the titanic dragon claw in the sky fell, and then the time started ticking again.
BOOOOOOM!!!!!